Help Scout is a shared inbox, live chat widget and knowledge base for small and mid-size support teams. Paid plans start at US$25 per user per month on annual billing, there is a free plan for up to 5 users, and its customer-facing AI agent costs US$0.75 per resolution with no charge when the customer still needs a person.
Bottom line
- Best for: Small teams that work mainly in email
- Not for: Teams that need EU data hosting or a built-in phone channel
- Price from: US$25 per agent per month
- The catch: Data is hosted in the United States only, and the prices on the pricing page are annual-billing prices: paying monthly costs US$30 instead of US$25 on Standard.
Score breakdown
Help Scout scores 8.3 out of 10 on rubric v1.0. The rubric rates list prices and public documentation, not hands-on performance.
From US$60 to under US$100 per agent per month. Computed: US$83 per agent per month at 10 agents.
Every self-serve plan and AI add-on is priced in public, the billable unit is defined in writing, and minimums, mandatory fees and overage rules are stated.
Everything in level 4, plus a published statement on whether customer data trains AI models and which AI sub-processors are used.
A free plan, monthly billing with no mandatory fees, and documented import tools.
Email, live chat and a help centre, plus native phone or native messaging (WhatsApp, SMS or social).
A data processing agreement and SOC 2 or ISO 27001, but no documented EU data hosting.
Strengths
- A permanent free plan for up to 5 users and 100 contacts a month, with no payment method required.
- AI drafting for agents is included from the Plus plan rather than sold as a per-agent add-on.
- AI Answers is billed per resolution at US$0.75, the resolution is defined in writing, and you can set a monthly spending cap.
- Every plan and the AI price are public, and monthly billing is available on all self-serve plans.
- A published AI transparency page names OpenAI as the model provider and states how customer data is used.
Weaknesses
- Hosting is US-only. No EU or UK data region is documented.
- No native phone channel; voice and SMS work through integrations such as Aircall.
- Plans cap team size: Standard stops at 25 users and Plus at 50, and Pro has a 10-user minimum and is sold by sales only.
- A HIPAA business associate agreement is available on Pro only.
- The languages of the agent interface are not documented.
Pricing
Help Scout sells three paid per-user plans: Standard at US$25, Plus at US$45 and Pro at US$75 per user per month, all on annual billing. Monthly billing is about a fifth higher: US$30, US$54 and US$90. The AI agent, AI Answers, is charged on top at US$0.75 per resolution on every plan.
| Plan | Billed annually | Billed monthly | Key limits and included AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | — | — | Up to 5 users, one inbox, one Docs site and 100 contacts a month. No AI tools. |
| Standard | US$25 per agent per month | US$30 per agent per month | Up to 25 users, two inboxes, live chat, basic workflows and one SLA policy. AI Assist and summaries included; no AI Drafts and no light users. |
| Plus | US$45 per agent per month | US$54 per agent per month | Up to 50 users, five inboxes, 5 light users, advanced workflows, and Salesforce, Jira and HubSpot integrations. AI Drafts included. |
| Pro | US$75 per agent per month | US$90 per agent per month | Minimum 10 users, sold by sales. Unlimited workflows and SLA policies, SSO and HIPAA. AI Drafts included. |
AI and paid add-ons
| Add-on | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| AI Answers | US$0.75 per AI resolution | Source |
| Additional inbox | US$10 per month | Source |
| Additional Docs site | US$20 per month | Source |
True cost at 3, 10 and 50 agents
| Plan | Seats and plan | Agent-assist add-on | AI resolutions | Monthly total | per agent | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 agents · Entry tier | Standard | US$75 | US$0 | US$113 | US$188 | US$63 — No agent-assist add-on is sold on this plan. |
| 10 agents · Mid tier | Plus | US$450 | US$0 | US$375 | US$825 | US$83 — Agent-assist AI is included in this plan. |
| 50 agents · Mid tier | Plus | US$2,250 | US$0 | US$1,875 | US$4,125 | US$83 — Agent-assist AI is included in this plan. |
Help Scout: entry tier is Standard, mid tier is Plus, top tier is Pro with its 10-user minimum. AI Drafts is included from Plus, so the agent-assist add-on costs nothing there and is not available on Standard. AI resolutions are billed at US$0.75 each. Help Scout pricing explained · Help desk true-cost calculator
AI features and how they are billed
Help Scout splits its AI in two. Help for agents is bundled: AI Assist and conversation summaries come with every paid plan, and AI Drafts, which writes a suggested reply from your past answers and help articles, comes with Plus and Pro at no extra charge. The customer-facing agent, AI Answers, is pay-as-you-go at US$0.75 per resolution. A resolution is a conversation the AI answers without the customer escalating, asking for more help or searching further, and it is charged at most once per conversation. New accounts get AI Answers free for their first 3 months, counted from the day the account is created rather than the day the feature is switched on.
Key facts
- Vendor
- Help Scout
- Founded
- 2011
- Headquarters
- Remote company, United States
- Pricing model
- Per seat, plus AI usage
- Price from
- US$25 per agent per month
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- Yes
- Mandatory extra fees
- No
- Channels
- Email, Live chat, WhatsApp, Social messaging
- Agent interface languages
- Not documented · German: Not documented · Spanish: Not documented
- EU data hosting
- No
- UK data hosting
- No
- HIPAA (BAA available)
- Yes
- Certifications
- SOC 2 Type II, GDPR data processing agreement, HIPAA BAA (Pro plan only)
- Integrations
- Salesforce, HubSpot, Jira, Linear, Aircall (100+ apps in the marketplace)
- Named customers
- Gusto, Litmus, Mixmax, Clockwise, eCatholic
Data hosting and compliance
Help Scout states that it is hosted on Amazon Web Services in the United States and documents no EU or UK region. It offers a standard data processing agreement that it does not customise, holds a SOC 2 Type II report, and signs a HIPAA business associate agreement on the Pro plan only. Its AI features run on OpenAI models; Help Scout says account data is not used to train OpenAI's models, and that it may use limited samples to evaluate and improve its own features.
Vendor claims vs named-customer figures
| Figure | What it measures | Who says so | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 73% | Average AI Answers resolution rate, used as the default in the savings calculator on Help Scout's pricing page | Help Scout — Vendor claim | Source |
| 15.5% | Share of conversations AI Answers deflected for eCatholic in August 2025, from a Help Scout case study | eCatholic — Named customer, published by the vendor | Source |
The gap between the two figures is the useful part. Help Scout's pricing page assumes AI Answers resolves about three in four conversations, while the one named customer with a published rate reports roughly one in six. Neither number was measured by us, and they are not defined identically, but a buyer modelling AI savings should start from the case study rather than the calculator default.
Verdict
Help Scout is the easiest recommendation here for a small team whose support is mostly email and whose customers are mostly in North America. The free plan is real, the price list is complete, and the AI is priced so that you pay only when it works. It stops being the right answer when you need customer data hosted in Europe, a phone channel inside the help desk, or more than 50 users without a sales conversation.
Related pages
- Help Scout pricing explainedpricing
- The best Help Scout alternativesalternatives
- Help Scout vs Frontvs
- Freshdesk vs Help Scoutvs
- Best help desk softwarebest list
- Best help desk software for small businessbest list
- Best help desk for ecommercebest list
Frequently asked questions
How much does Help Scout cost?
Help Scout's paid plans cost US$25 (Standard), US$45 (Plus) and US$75 (Pro) per user per month on annual billing, or US$30, US$54 and US$90 when billed monthly. AI Answers is charged separately at US$0.75 per resolution.
Does Help Scout have a free plan?
Yes. The free plan covers up to 5 users, one inbox and 100 contacts a month, and does not require a payment method. It includes no AI tools. Paid plans also have a 15-day free trial.
How does Help Scout charge for AI?
AI help for agents is included in the paid plans, with AI Drafts from Plus upward. The customer-facing AI Answers feature costs US$0.75 per resolution, charged at most once per conversation and not at all if the customer asks for a person. You can set a monthly spending cap.
Can Help Scout store data in the EU?
Not according to its documentation. Help Scout says it is hosted on AWS in the United States and lists no EU or UK region. It offers a data processing agreement for GDPR purposes, but teams that need EU data hosting should look at help desks with EU data hosting.
Is Help Scout HIPAA compliant?
Help Scout signs a business associate agreement on the Pro plan only, which has a 10-user minimum. Using AI features with protected health information requires an additional addendum.
Sources
- Help Scout pricing — Help Scout · 18 September 2026
- User-based billing and plans guide — Help Scout Docs · 18 September 2026
- Light users — Help Scout Docs · 18 September 2026
- Manage your contact-based plan — Help Scout Docs · 18 September 2026
- About annual payments — Help Scout Docs · 18 September 2026
- Import emails or tickets into Help Scout — Help Scout Docs · 18 September 2026
- Security at Help Scout — Help Scout Docs · 18 September 2026
- HIPAA at Help Scout — Help Scout Docs · 18 September 2026
- AI transparency — Help Scout · 18 September 2026
- About Help Scout — Help Scout · 18 September 2026
- eCatholic customer story — Help Scout · 18 September 2026
This page was researched and drafted with AI assistance from the sources listed on it. We have not run hands-on tests of these products. Method: How we review